After the Miami Heat’s recent free agent additions of Klay Thompson and Nick Richards, there remains just one final open standard roster spot out of the possible 15 to fill.
In recent years, the Heat have opted to leave that last spot open heading into the season— in the event another quality rotation player gets bought out midway through the campaign. That could certainly be the case this year as well. But if they do decide to utilize that last spot there is one former Heat player that has been linked to the team in Victor Oladipo.
Oladipo hasn’t played in an NBA game since 2023 with Miami, where he suffered a torn patella tendon in the first round of the playoffs. However, he has been ramping up his efforts in making a case to return to the league for the upcoming 2026-27 campaign.
Victor Oladipo has been vocal in his desire to get another NBA opportunity.
The 34-year-old former All-Star recently published a “Letter to NBA GMs” on the Players Tribune vouching for his comeback case.
Then in 2023, with Miami, I tore my patellar tendon. And to be honest, I actually think that injury was a blessing in disguise. Because from the moment my injuries first started, it’s like I’d been on this chase. I’d been chasing the idea of what we were so close to achieving as a team in Indy, and who I was so close to becoming as a player in the league. And it’s like ever since then … I’d just been trying so hard to get BACK there, you know?? So hard that I think I was rushing the process, and trying to make up for lost time.
But my patella injury changed all that. Like to me that was God’s way of saying, ‘Victor. You need to slow down, and get right, and stop chasing the ghost of what could have been. Then you need to build yourself back up into something that’s real.’ And for the last three years, that’s what I’ve been doing.
— Victor Oladipo via the Players Tribune
It was a passionate and personal piece of writing from Oladipo, where he made his love for the game heavily known. The piece wasn’t meant to vouch for a revival to his once All-Star form, but instead to just vouch for a chance to play basketball again at any capacity.
The Heat have reportedly “monitored” Oladipo’s situation.
According to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel, he wrote via X that Miami has indeed been monitoring Oladipo’s comeback attempt and granted clearance to work at Kaseya Center.
Oladipo’s peak form as a member of the Heat came from the 2022-2023 seasons. He was a solid two-way contributor on the court with the ability to handle the ball, have an occasional burst at the rim, provide strong defense on the perimeter and a veteran locker room presence. He last averaged 10.7 points, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game back in 2022-23.
For a present day Heat team that is in need of some guard depth, Oladipo is intriguing to consider at the very least, especially on a veteran minimum price tag.
***
To check out our other content, click here.
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter/X here!
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram here!
Check out Hot Hot Hoops on Facebook here!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!
- Heat release 4 players, finalize roster ahead of opening night
- 5 preseason takeaways from Heat after finale v. Magic
- PRESEASON GAMETHREAD: Miami Heat (3-1) v. Orlando Magic (2-1)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn’t receive first-place vote for MVP from NBA Execs
- Heat earn third preseason win versus Nets in near-triple-double Giannis performance
OK. Let’s get this over with. Bring in Gabe and Victor and work them out head to head. See if either of them is worth a vet minimum contract. Heat need a good playmaker who plays solid defense. If neither of them make the grade, hold off until preseason to see how Conwell and Donaldson do. One step at a time.
dipo can do one thing great guard.gabe does everything below average.sure dipo can get hurt any second ill take my chances on dipo guarding jalen at the end of the game.weve seen that movie before
go brewers cubs in nl go tampa al sick of nyy lad f them sorry sm
Well, it could be that the University of Miami may have their best quarterback ever, and that’s saying a lot. That Mensah is a Mensa!
Now, they just need to polish their running attack, use more deception, quicker developing plays, and they will make the playoffs again.
one game 30 versus bad team.i was there just before jim kelly .hes only gonna be here for 1 year but yeah the kid looked great of course toney is an all world wr.lets wait til end of year to see how good he is.but he might be #1 pick
Yes, of course I’m being premature (ask my wife). But, that fourth touchdown pass was definitely a professional level throw. And he made a few big plays under heavy duress. I like him, like the way he talks to the press also, seems so composed, comfortable. Let’s just say the QB position is in excellent hands this year.
he was great at duke last year.the throws he made when he was being hit were impressive.looks like an nfl qb
How bout dem Dodgers?
this is a so fla site marlins suk btw
Basketball site. Not football, baseball, polo, ice hockey or synchronized swimming.
no bball going on for a month or two
First preseason game is Sat October 3 vs Raptors in Québec City.
wow less than 30 days dam short off season .hope the guys are working out now together.over/under greek pts 25 reb 10 assists 8 wins 50 bam 20 9 4 wig 18 pts dav 11 3 8
Oladipo, Vincent or Konchar would be good IMO. Victor the best career, Gabe another PG who was very good at POA defense and pressuring the ball, and a willing 3PT shooter on offense. Konchar who is near the top of NBA in OREB, DREB, STL, BLK, deflections per 100, can help turn this team into even more of a monster in transition and on the glass.
I don’t think any of them would play big minutes. I honestly think the best case might be hold the spot until the trade deadline and hope someone is bought out afterwards.
I really like Konchar on this team as a sort of wing version of Dru, I think he can give them productive minutes. He can change the energy of games with his defensive playmaking and he’s someone teams have to worry about on the offensive glass. Any minutes he gives in regular season are less minutes on the starters/top of the rotation players and I think he fits really well with this team’s style. But the Heat FO of course knows the condition of all these players better than me. There are options to add later in the season even if they fill the 15th spot now, Gardner’s contract for example has a partial guarantee of only 500k.
davion and greek working out in greece thats good to see.its champ or bust
Little time warp there. That occurred in July.
Let’s do the Time Warp Again.
So many tributes to Dolly. Tim Curry deserves a few too.
Ben Simmons to the kings. This can’t be real life.
What are we doing nba? Dude had the yips when he was good. Now like 5 years removed, multiple back injuries, anxiety problems…getting another chance? Crazy.
The Kings seem to be grasping at straws.
niko got 16 3.5 mil a bargain
Niko played more games last year than Simmons has in 5 of his last 6 seasons.
and how did niko play may i ask
Good point. The answer is “As bad as Simmons”.
dont think big ben played though.id rather have a guy not play then niko play .jeez how many chances can a guy get.poor keshad can jump through the roof hit somes 3s barely can see the ct.who says theres not favortism in the work place.witnessed it my whole working life
NBA roster is basically meritocratic compared to other workplaces, talent usually gets you on the court, connections and appearance don’t matter as much as in other jobs. On the Heat role players will play if they can defend their position/win their minutes and bring energy. That’s how Larsson got minutes his first year. Jovic and Ware didn’t play as much as they expected last year for that reason. Keshad didn’t play because he doesn’t have a natural NBA position, he has to overcome that by stretching his game out to the perimeter more. He is a good player to root for but your evaluation of Keshad is just way off, seems entirely based on his vertical.
hes hardly played when he has hes looked like he belongs.jovic is good east of atlantic ocean not west of it.keshad can guard 3s or 4s i believe.ware is good guarding the hoop bring most bigs outside their quickness is exposed.i hope ware becomes an all star i think hes got that in him just let him play.so your saying youd rather have jovic than ware 2015?
Last year Zach Lowe and Fred Katz were projecting Jovic to get an extension around the $15m MLE, exactly what he got and said that would be a good extension. Teams don’t want his contract now, it has negative value in a trade atm, but that doesn’t mean his talent disappeared after one bad year.
Jovic at his position is a better defender than Ware who was one of the worst defensive bigs in the NBA last year. I would take Jovic over Ware, but the important thing is Ware was a big part of the return for the Bucks in the Giannis trade.
On Keshad he has similar length to Brandon Clarke, RIP, who had a 8’6″ measured standing reach at PF (same standing reach as Larsson). Clarke had similar or better vertical explosiveness to Keshad, was a more fluid athlete with more ballhandling, could finish at the rim and had a floater in pick and roll, and could switch out to the perimeter on defense, while being a good rebounder. In comparison Keshad lacks a lot of that which someone like Clarke had to make up for lack of positional size. So when you say Keshad should be playing over Jovic, who has PF size at the wing position vs Keshad who was a PF/C in college trying to move to wing in NBA, it is IMO ignoring the big difference in their games.
No doubt they are different players. Keshads problem is, that he cant improve the skills he need because of lack of talent. Everything else is there. Niko has all the talent in the world, but nothing else.
Keshad didn’t play much , because he is not talented enough to be a successful NBA player. I wish it would be different.
Under 30% 3s
You bring up something I never understood. Its why in NBA play most paid players and not the best.
Back in 90s, the best European players went in NBA, sign miserable contracts and sit on bench. They were clearly better then those who played.
I m talking about players like Petrovic, Divac and Kukoc, which were talents at the level of Luka, Jokic, Giannis or Wemby. They all have solid NBA careers, but they sat a year or two at the bench because of their contracts.
The situation is the same now, the only difference is that now an Euro with contract which doesn’t deserve will play over a local player with small contract.
I still don’t know why exactly that is. In Europe the best are playing, not most paid.
Vlade? Are you kidding? He was a B player. Petrovic and Kukoc were good, maybe A-. Neither was an A+ player like Luka, Jokic, Giannis or Wemby. They are in entirely different class.
Kukoc, for example, won three Euro championships and three European MVPs, an Olympic silver medal and Words golden medal before turned 21.
Petrovic had similar career before NBA.
They came into NBA quite old and as late picks. They never had a chance to be leaders of their teams.
With attention and position Luka had, both would be that level of players, no doubt about it.
Jovic was 10th in minutes on the team last year, Spo didn’t play him much even with his just signed extension. He is lower in the rotation this year than Larsson making $2m. There is just an excessive focus on Jovic here because of his contract that will turn around and be forgotten if he plays well, and he has a chance to do that next to Giannis. A MLE extension for Jovic was considered a good deal a year ago because it would be highly tradeable, now it’s not tradeable but that can change.
Simmons is 5-36 from three for his career. In his worst year Jovic took and made far more 3PT shots than Simmons has in 7 years. Very different players again
simmons in college was magic johnson #1 pick he got paid got injured
magic johnson game not steph curry game,takingshots means sht making them all that matters
Taking shots is a prerequisite and more important than making shots, if you don’t shoot at all and aren’t guarded you’re a liability on offense. Simmons 5-36 career 3FG is comparable to Gobert 0-22 who was 2nd to last in gravity last year after Dwight Powell. And Simmons lacks the interior gravity of Gobert. Not being willing to shoot and miss has always been one of the main drawbacks to Simmons game, he isn’t guarded on offense as a result and isn’t even a great off ball mover to compensate.
He played 47.
Ben Simmons (who again has the yips, and can’t shoot), played :
2025-26 – 0
2024-25 – 51
2023-24 – 15
2022-23 – 42
2021-22 – 0
Ben Simmons also hasn’t averaged double digits since 2020-21.
Also, while I agree Nikola’s contract is awful, it doesn’t change the fact that Ben Simmons is washed. I mean Chris Paul isn’t rostered, he was also good 5 years ago lmao.
the sac kings who i believe shaq is pt owner are a disfunctional org.the heat on the other hand are a very functional org.were lucky to have pat.im glad pat liked the city of miami when he dissed the knicks
Turn off the monitor and get someone else
I like Victor. However, I don’t know if he still has it. If he does, he could be a good option off the bench. If he doesn’t Miami can feel good about giving him a shot.
I would invite him to camp to compete for a job and see what he has. If it is a non-guaranteed salary situation, it’s worth a try.
Might as well invite Ball, Simmons, Cam and Vincent as well. What does Miami have to lose?
Fair point.
Disagree. You’re talking about the 15th spot. What’s there to lose? That dude was blessed with a quick muscle twitch only great athletes possess. If anything…based on what he’s accomplished and been through he’d be a positive example for everyone on the team IMO.
I’ve been thinking about the quick twitch comment. It was a good one. I agree VO was gifted. That’s why they should observe him at least
Again, I hope he gets his opportunity and I hope he succeeds, but not with the Heat. There are, and will be, better and more reliable options for that last spot.
I tend to agree. It would be good, nice story, but nothing more.